Previously, we presented 10 tips to help you to write the most effective landing pages possible.
In this article, we’re offering you a second set of tips which are all the more crucial as competition is rife and sites are fighting to be the most original to attract prospective clients.
A specific landing page for every audience
If you use different digital marketing channels for your campaigns, it might be worth writing a different landing page for every audience you’re targeting…
When we say it might be, we actually mean that it definitely is!
As Facebook allows you to conduct super-precise targeting, why not create a landing page that’s specific to these users? What’s more, you probably target a different market segment – even just slightly different – on Google AdWords through keywords, so make a separate page for those too.
Don’t hesitate – try to vary the texts and calls-to-action on these landing pages. The social proof elements will certainly be different, too! You just need to make a slight change to the URL and your work is done. This also allows you to test different elements and see which works best!
A bit of originality never hurt anyone!
Have you already had the chance to recruit candidates for your company? Or, on the contrary, if you often have to pitch to new clients, you may have noticed that a useful strategy is to create a personal link.
Now, use your landing pages to speak directly to your clients.
Dereck Sivers, American musician and former director of the company CD Baby, managed to do just that through a famous email which he describes as “The most successful email I ever wrote”:
Of course, this is a thank you email sent after a customer made a purchase – we advise against writing quite as much on your landing pages, as your value proposition needs to be clear in just a few seconds.
Nevertheless, what counts here is the tone of the email: funny, personal, brief… basically, anything but boring!
The aim of having a hook on a landing page is to encourage the user to scroll towards… the call-to-action!
A subtle CTA - but why?
Some customers aren’t ready to “buy now”.
This is what Lee Wilson from the website Search Journal Engine describes as the “level of emotional engagement”.
They’ll prefer a more subtle CTA, such as “See more” or “Continue”.
Indeed, even if the page that follows the CTA is a product page, and is therefore similar to what would follow a “buy now” button, it’s still preferable for certain customers. Unconsciously, the latter makes these customers feel as though they’re being held hostage and have no other choice but to make a purchase.
“Continue”, regardless of what appears on the next page, leads them to click on the CTA. Which is the aim of the landing page, right? Remember, though, to include a section which provides more details about the product for this kind of customer.
A different approach to the CTA: the secondary call-to-action
If the “Continue” CTA allows you to soften your tone and please a wider audience, the same article suggests that it can be a good idea to test a secondary call-to-action in the form of a link that’s placed under the main button as follows:
Source : SEJ
As you’ll see, the aim is the same: to play on different types of customer’s level of emotional engagement.
But why? To illustrate the reason behind this, let’s use the analogy of pricing consumer products such as books. For readers to whom the publishing date of a new bestseller is important, the publisher offers a large format version with strong colours, which is far more expensive. For the second category of buyers, those who are more sensitive to price, the publisher will offer a smaller version of the same book which comes at a more affordable price, and is released a few months later.
The same applies for your two CTA: the main one targets the main group of buyers who are more trusting, while the secondary version targets those who want to find out more to avoid making a compulsive purchase.
Don’t forget that when you make any changes on your website, the key is to…
Test, test and test again!
In our article on calls-to-action, we mentioned the click-through rate (CTR), or the number of people who come to your page and click on the CTA. In this article, we’re going to focus more on the bounce rate.
The bounce rate is the number of visitors who leave your site after arriving on your landing page, without visiting any other pages first. Your beloved Google Analytics will be very happy to tell you how many seconds these visitors spent reading your landing page before leaving.
For every change you make to your landing page, whether double CTA or modification of the button, hook, etc., remember to measure before and after a long enough period of time.
Email workflow
We always recommend that you use forms that are clean and easy to complete. Don’t forget, though, to create a chain of emails that follow after a prospective customer signs up to your site or newsletter.
Once you’ve created a lead, it would be a shame not to make the most of it. But be careful, as always, to avoid spamming your customers – instead, show some originality. Ask yourself “Would I like to receive this in my own inbox?”
Most CRM programmes and WordPress addons offer this kind of service.
Have you heard of live chat?
Contrary to what the name suggests, most live chats are conducted by little robots which pop up gently in the background of your page to tell you that someone is at your service. They offer you the option to chat or present you with a list of the most frequently asked questions.
Beware, however, because these “bots” are a double-edged sword, especially in SEO terms.
Facebook bots are an example of good practice for the sector. On the social media platform, the chat windows aren’t too prominent; they can be closed quickly and easily and even offer the client chat options or present the list of FAQs, which is a nice alternative to an outgoing link.
Limiting your number of external links, but...
We all know that a landing page which presents ten outgoing links doesn’t guarantee that your prospective customer will click on your CTA… quite the opposite is true!
However, in the same spirit as the above, a contextual link can be a good way to lead the reader to an “about” page with a view to building a relationship of trust, which may then lead them to becoming a customer. Some customers need to see what’s behind the company before they make a purchase.
Conclusion
When it comes to landing page optimisation, you can find all sorts online. It’s important to remember the best basic practices, and then test, experiment and measure the rest.
We hope this article has given you an overview of new, interesting practices that could increase your conversion rate and attract new clients!
References
Landing pages best practices on SEJ
10 Landing Page Tweaks That Will Increase Conversions
What Makes a Great Landing Page: 5 Essential Elements
The most successful email I ever wrote
Karsh, Brad, Confession of a recruiting director, 2006.
Danny Marguiles, 8 Proposal mistakes
Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash
Guillaume Duckerts is a writer and freelancer who specialises in information and communication technologies.
